Key Moments:
- The gross gaming result in the legal market dropped to €600 million in the first half of 2025, down 16% from six months earlier.
- Active legal player accounts climbed to 1.29 million per month in early 2025, while average player losses declined to €119 monthly.
- The share of funds gambled with illegal providers rose, with illegal market BSR increasing to 49% at the start of 2025.
Market Shifts Under Regulatory Measures
The Dutch Gaming Authority (Ksa) has reported a notable shift in the country’s online gambling landscape in its autumn 2025 monitoring report. While the legal market once showed robust growth, it now appears to be reaching a plateau. According to the Ksa, this slowdown is connected in part to positive impacts from player protection initiatives, introduced a year earlier, although such measures may be prompting some activity to migrate to illegal markets.
Financial Performance and Player Activity
During the first half of 2025, the gross gaming result (stakes minus prizes paid out) in the regulated online gambling sector reached €600 million. This represented a 16% decline from the previous six months, when the figure was €697 million. The period also saw the implementation of rules tightening player protection, including the introduction of deposit limits.
| Period | Gross Gaming Result (€ million) | Monthly Accounts (million) | Active Players | Average Monthly Loss per Player (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd half 2024 | 697 | 1.18 | – | 146 |
| 1st half 2025 | 600 | 1.29 | 839,000 | 119 |
Despite a downturn in gross gaming revenue, player engagement continued to rise. The monthly number of accounts grew from an average of 1.18 million in the latter half of 2024 to 1.29 million in the first half of 2025. Notably, 7.1% of these accounts were newly created, which may reflect the impact of tighter deposit caps.
With the possibility of individuals holding multiple accounts, the total number of active players is estimated at 839,000 for the first six months of 2025 – representing 5.7% of the adult population. This is a slight increase from the 5.4% figure recorded in the prior period.
Trends Among Young Adults
Young adults, defined as those aged 18 to 24, accounted for 23 percent of played accounts in early 2025, versus only 9.3% representation in the adult population. On average, these younger players lost €37 per month per account, a figure well below the €78 average for all adults. This group also demonstrated a greater tendency toward sports betting compared to the overall player base.
Declining Player Losses
The introduction of the recent safeguards has yielded a marked reduction in the average monthly losses per player. By the beginning of 2025, the average fell to €119 per month, down from €146 at the end of 2024. This calculation considers that individuals often maintain several accounts and may not be consistently active each month.
Illegal Market Concerns
Ksa’s findings highlight persistent risks in the illicit sector. The proportion of players exclusively gambling within the legal channel remained stable at approximately 94%. However, the share of total gambled funds directed toward illegal providers – measured as the BSR – slipped from 51% at the end of 2024 to 49% at the start of 2025. According to the regulator, some players may be attracted to unauthorized platforms by the absence of the new protective limitations. The Ksa described this migration as a cause for concern, noting lower levels of player protection in the illegal market.
- Author
Daniel Williams
